BFP gives students in rural India a new reason to be regular to school

Barefoot Power India Private Ltd has installed two Solar School charging stations in partnership with Evangelical Social Action Forum (ESAF) and Technology, Education, Research and Rehabilitation for the Environment Centre (TERRE) in Rural India this June, giving students a big reason to come into school everyday. These stations address the basic lighting needs of households that have limited or no access to energy by charging Firefly desk lamps that are then purchased by the student via a lease model.

Each station installed in a school can support up to 24 lamps. A student can use this lamp to study at home after dark, and bring it in to school to charge every other day. By paying a small sum of Rs. 3 or 5, a student (and thereby a household) can recharge their lamp, making this an affordable way of renting the system until it is paid for – at which point the lamp and panel belongs to the household.

ESAF, is impressed by the simplicity of the ‘rent to own’ model and is keen to expand this project to 300 other ESAF schools across the country. Barefoot Power, with a grant from Osprey Foundation, plans to expand this model to include 18 other stations until December 2013.